title: Diversity in South African dental schools.
abstract: The present paper investigates the demographic distribution of incoming undergraduate dental students in 5 South African dental schools. Biographical data was acquired in 1992 using a questionnaire administered to students in each of the dental schools. Data for 1994 was obtained from the Department of Health. The students were categorized in terms of population group and gender. Frequency distributions for these categories were computed. The results indicate that there are wide discrepancies with regard to population groups in all schools suggesting a lack of representativeness in terms of the wider population. A number of recommendations are made to redress these imbalances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
authors.forename: U M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Chikte
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003710:Demography; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D012575:Schools, Dental; D013019:South Africa; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires